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Giving Back by Giving to the Future | #Give2Future

Today, people around the United States and the world are participating in #GivingTuesday, a day to celebrate generosity and giving.

Giving is one of the most concrete actions we can take to connect to and shape the future. When we volunteer time to a community organization, we ensure its services continue to reach those in need in the coming years. When we cook meals at a local shelter, we help others sustain their health and stay food secure. And research shows that giving also bolsters our own health and well-being and optimism for the future.

Giving itself is also changing. We have more ways to give to people, communities, and causes both near and far than ever before. Today's social innovators harness new tools for self-organizing, the power of the crowd, and algorithmic coordination to cull together a network of actors and resources for greater social impact. As IFTF's Marina Gorbisrecently wrote in the Stanford Social Innovation Review, this world of social action poses a challenge—and great opportunity—for traditional philanthropy models.

We created a new map, The Future of Philanthropy: Networked Action for Social Impact, as a guide and provocation to help philanthropic organizations prepare for and shape a more desirable future for their constituents and stakeholders. It outlines future forces of change that have the potential to build a whole new ecosystem of platforms, tools, and strategies to enable massive movements for public good. Use it to understand the landscape of giving back and inform your own #GivingTuesday efforts.

We can all help create a better future. What's your role?

As you spend the day thinking about giving back, IFTF invites you to think about giving to the future. We are a 501 (c)(3) non-profit organization with a mission to build foresight as a skill that helps people, communities, and organizations make the futures they want. More information about donating to IFTF is available on our donation page.

Download and share the map in #GivingTuesday activities in your community. Tell us how you're giving to the future using the hashtag #Give2Future. We greatly appreciate your support as we work towards a more engaged and thoughtful future.

Institute for the Future, founded in 1968, is an independent 501 (c)(3) nonprofit research and consulting organization based in Palo Alto, California. IFTF explores a wide range of future possibilities, connecting humanity’s biggest challenges with the greatest opportunities for transformation. We are living in a time of urgent futures—developments and opportunities with such extraordinary potential for changing the human landscape that we must pursue them now.